THE CAUCUS; Court Declines to Consider San Diego Cross Dispute

By REBECCA BERG

Published: June 26, 2012

The Supreme Court on Monday announced that it would not decide whether a cross at a veterans memorial in San Diego can be allowed to remain on public land.

In a statement, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said that although the case presented ''a question of substantial importance,'' the court could not rule because a binding decision had not yet been rendered by the lower courts. A district court has been assessing whether a modification might be made to the cross so that it passes constitutional muster.

Since 1913 a cross has stood prominently on Mount Soledad in San Diego, first placed there as an explicitly religious symbol. The current cross, 43 feet high, was erected in 1954 and dedicated ''as a lasting memorial to the dead of the first and second World Wars and the Korean conflict.'' Only in the 1990s was a veterans memorial, consisting of plaques surrounding the cross, added to the site.

The first lawsuit opposing the cross was filed in 1989 by two Vietnam veterans; the site has been the focus of near-constant litigation ever since. The most recent ruling on the subject, made by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, found that the cross violates the First Amendment's prohibition of government establishment of religion.

As the case has evolved and stalled, the issue has evoked passion from supporters and opponents alike. Some San Diegans have criticized the use of public land for a cross they say conveys a religious message, while others have defended it as a city landmark rather than a religious symbol.

On Monday, William J. Kellogg, the chairman of the Mount Soledad Memorial Association, said that he had expected a different decision from the court, but that he would nevertheless press ahead with the legal battle.

''We were hopeful that the Supreme Court would take it, but we also think that it was done in a way that still allows us to pursue a solution to allow the cross to remain where it has stood for more than 50 years,'' Mr. Kellogg said.

This is a more complete version of the story than the one that appeared in print.